Student Assistance Program – Response to Intervention
This comprehensive plan has a proven track record of results over the past 4 years, and it can be
readily implemented in both an online and a traditional brick and mortar environment. Using
universal screening as a means to identify and diagnose the needs of all students who are
performing below grade level or below the proficient level on state-wide assessments, NNDS
will compile data from the various screenings and move quickly to intervene with the student.
The Response to Intervention Model looks like this:
SPECIAL EDUCATION
SERVICES
Intensive Tutoring Math &
Reading
Skills Tutor
 Supplemental Educational Services (SES)
 Classroom Plus
 Open or Individualized
Lincoln Literacy
 Source, Power, Journey
Initiate IAT process
Initiate ARB process
Standards-based Curriculum
Little Lincoln, Lincoln Interactive, Calvert
Sound Instructional Practices
Ongoing Measurement
Communication
Student Performance Data
DORA/DOMA, universal screening
Tutoring
Prescriptive Tools
Study Island
At the heart of this model is the focus that students use only a standards-based curriculum, with
sound instructional practices, and ongoing measurement of performance. As soon as any
screening indicates that a student is in need of intervention, NNDS will act immediately to insure
that the student is placed into an appropriate program. The Student Learning Advocate will
contact the student's parents/guardians, and together they will formulate a plan for that student.
To summarize this RtI Program:
Response to Intervention Overview
What is RtI?
RtI is a service delivery framework or strategy for the implementation or early
intervening services. It is a multi-tiered intervention strategy to enable early
identification and intervention for students at academic or behavioral risk. RtI allows
educators to identify and address these difficulties prior to student failure. Monitoring
student response to a series of increasingly intense interventions assists in preventing
failure and provides data that may guide eligibility decisions for learning disabilities.
The Goal To develop:
 a comprehensive, multi-tiered intervention strategy to enable early intervention
 an alternative to the discrepancy model for the identification of at risk students
 continuous monitoring of student progress
 benchmark/outcome assessment
The Model 
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An integrated approach for general, remedial, and special education needs
Resources organized and scientifically research-based practices provided in direct
proportion to student needs
A best-practices approach
All system variables - child, teacher, & environment
Results in objective & measurable interventions
General Outcomes 
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Increased expectations for ALL students
Shared ownership for ALL students
Focus on instruction
Focus on the matching of instructional approaches/methods with the student's
needs
Reduce special education referrals
Reduce disciplinary referrals
This three-tiered program provides immediate help for the student, which is the key to any
successful SAP. In this three-tiered approach, the student may be placed into a variety of
tutorials, all designed to improve student performance.
Tier 1 offers the student DORA/ADAM, Study Island, and other supplemental programs in
conjunction with assigned curriculum. At early levels, online instructional activities use large
text and have clear audio playing as the student reads along. Parents and the SLA can monitor
the student's progress and repeat assessments to demonstrate advances in learning. The targeted
lessons in math use online versions of familiar math manipulatives and models to help students
understand lessons and apply their learning to real-world problem solving. The Numbers and
Operations track helps students gain number sense through an understanding of operations and
computations, including numbers' relationships to one another. The Fractions Track helps
students develop fraction knowledge, including computation using fractions and mixed numbers.
The measurement track helps students understand measurement attributes of objects and their
units, systems, tools, and processes of measurement.
Study Island gives students practice in the content standards that are found on state-wide
assessments. The program is divided into sections based on subject matter, and they include
math, reading, writing, and science. Each section is comprised of approximately 30 topics and
corresponding to a state standard or multiple, related standards. Topics consist of a lesson and a
bank of practice questions with explanations. All students will be encouraged to visit Study
Island frequently to help them prepare for the state-mandated assessments.
Tier 2 is a more intense intervention and places the student into the Skills Tutor program and
may include placing the student into other supplemental programs. These students will be
expected to spend a minimum of 30 minutes a day at least five days per week working in the
academic module.
SkillsTutor shares the goal of The Florida Department of Education’s Next Generation Strategic
Plan, Florida State Standards and Common Core Standards. Skills Tutor uses a multi-sensory,
instructional approach to deliver targeted, individualized remediation developed for each student
and based on the results of the DORA/ADAM tests. The cross-curricular program is assigned
based upon data acquired during the first stage of universal screening. Students are placed into
appropriate academic modules for intervention in specific concepts. Careful analysis of
performance is continually reported as to determine movement along the multi-tiered system.
The goal of each program is to use the program methodology with an adaptive intervention
engine, skill mastery based on automaticity, and motivational principles to build fluency in the
foundation skills to help students achieve rapid and permanent gains and
requirements/expectations. Students and parents are then guided through the process of getting
started in the program. Log in information is provided, and the students and parents are then
directed to the narrated tutorial. Following that, the student will complete the Pre-Assessment.
This will create a customized learning path for the student, enabling him or her to begin working
on mastery of each skill level. Students are required to spend a minimum of 20-30 minutes
several times a week working on their program in addition to their course work. Completion is
enforced/monitored by the student's SLA, who observes the work done by the student in either
Academy and can/will continue to intervene and adjust the program as necessary.
Depending on the student's needs and progress, the student may also be placed in individualized
tutoring sessions and possibly referred to the school's IAT for evaluation.
For the student who is older and reading well below grade level, the use of Lincoln Interactive
Literacy Series is often recommended and used in conjunction with the Academy of Reading.
These courses were designed to address the need for engaging, age-appropriate reading materials
for students needing remediation in middle and high school. The following are the course
descriptions:
Literacy Source: (1004TP) Start on your path to literacy! This course is the first of three literacy
courses designed to help students achieve literacy. Throughout this course, students focus on
what they are able to read rather than what they “can not.” Students will be introduced to
different types of sentences, the five W’s, and how to make predictions when reading a
story. Students will complete a reading inventory upon entering and exiting this course in order
to measure their improved reading level.
Literacy Power; (1005TP) Continue on your path to literacy with the second of three literacy
courses. After establishing a base for literacy learning, students will identify new vocabulary
words and comprehend their meaning, learn the steps that it takes to summarize a reading, and
grasp concepts such as antonyms, synonyms, and homonyms. Students will complete a reading
inventory upon entering and exiting this course in order to measure improvement of reading
skills and level.
Literacy Journey: (1010TP) Continue down the final stretch of literacy! This course is the final
literacy course designed to help students realize their full potential. Throughout the course,
students will be exposed to many new reading genre, vocabulary, analogies, word origins and
note taking. Students’ confidence levels will soar when they realize their potential. Students will
complete a reading inventory upon entering and exiting this course in order to measure their
improved reading level.
Tier 3 is the most intensive tier. The students in Tier 3 will be assigned to intensive reading
and/or math tutoring several times a week or as often as necessary to assist the student
appropriately. This direct instruction approach allows educators to carefully analyze where
specific breakdowns in learning occur. Thorough reporting of direct instruction is required to
establish future planning for students.
If the multi-tiered interventions fail to yield acceptable, positive results, then a referral for special
needs may be considered. It is the belief of NNDS that every student can achieve and maintain
academic progress. The goal of this intensive, student-centered program is to help the student
enrolled in either or both Academies make significant progress quickly. Working closely with
each student and his or her parent/guardian, recommendations, adaptations, and adjustments can
and will be made in order to help the student continue to grow. The first priority of every SLA
and the entire faculty and administration at NNDS is to keep every student moving in the right
direction, achieving academic goals and learning life-long skills.